c# - Convert DateTime To JSON DateTime

Question

I have a WebService which return DateTime Field.

I get a result /Date(1379048144000)/ but

i want just 1379048144000 how can i achieve that.

[WebMethod]
public DateTime GetServerDate()
{
    return DateTime.Now;
}

by setting Header Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8; i got a result like /Date(1379048144000)/.

Answer 1

You could change your WS to return a long with the value of the DateTime. The value to return is the number of milliseconds since the Unix Epoch (01/01/1970). This could be done with an extension method on DateTime something like:

public static class DateTimeExtensions
{
    ...
    private static readonly DateTime UnixEpoch = new DateTime(1970, 1, 1);

    public static long ToUnixTime(this DateTime dateTime)
    {
        return (dateTime - UnixEpoch).Ticks / TimeSpan.TicksPerMillisecond;
    }
    ...
}

And your web service method might look something like:

public long GetMyDate(...)
{
    DateTime dateTime = ...;
    return dateTime.ToUnixTime();
}